NATO

Under new Commission the EU will create a new defence and space unit to help fund, develop and deploy armed forces, President-elect Ursula von der Leyen stated last Tuesday. The creation of a defence branch, long resisted by Britain, is an attempt by the EC new head to stem a decline in EU influence, as it faces heavy US pressure to do more for its own security.

NATO needs to understand the implications of China’s rise as Beijing expands its power around the world, including areas that may challenge members of the North Atlantic security body, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday. China’s increasing assertiveness, including in the South China Sea, has raised concerns about its intentions, and the United States has called on NATO to recognize and adapt to new emerging threats, including China.

The European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) will reportedly increase defence spending for the fourth consecutive year amid calls by President Donald Trump for the allies to spend a greater share of their budgets on defence.

The European Commission has today adopted a proposal to exempt supplies to armed forces - such as training materials, accommodation, provision of food and fuel - from Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise duties when these forces are deployed outside their own Member State and take part in a European defence effort. As stated by the EC press office, supplies to armed forces participating in a NATO defence effort can already benefit from such exemptions.

More European allies in NATO increased defence spending in 2018, with sharp rises in the Baltics, Poland and the Netherlands, but still only six governments met a target sought by the US, while Germany significantly lags, news wires reported.

The former Yugoslav state Macedona has officially gained its new name as the Republic of North Macedonia, putting a start to country's official process of joining NATO. According to alliance's officials it will be accepted as a full member late this year or early in 2020 once parliaments have endorsed the so-called `Protocol of the North Atlantic Treaty for the Accession of North Macedonia`. Until then, however, it can take part in NATO meetings as a guest.

The future of a Cold War-era arms control treaty appears in jeopardy after NATO and Russia failed on Friday to resolve a dispute over a new Russian ballistic missile system that Western allies consider a threat to Europe.

Macedonian lawmakers are poised to gather from Wednesday, 9 January, to hold a crucial debate about changing their country's name to settle a decades-long dispute with Greece and open the way to NATO and EU membership. But the switch to "the Republic of North Macedonia" is expected to be an uphill task involving 4 constitutional amendments and the support of two thirds of the 120-member parliament.

Kosovo's parliament on Friday approved three draft laws on the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) expanding its competences and creating a legal base for its transformation into a regular army with 5,000 troop, plus 3,000 reservists. The three draft laws concern one directly on the Kosovo Security Force, KSF, another on a Ministry of Defence and a third on service in the KSF.

NATO foreign ministers gave Bosnia-Herzegovina the green light to take a major step forward on its path toward joining the world's biggest military alliance, albeit the Bosnian Serb objections to membership. Meeting in Brussels on December 5, the ministers invited Bosnia to submit its first annual national program of political, economic, and defense reforms aimed at bringing aspiring countries into line with the Atlantic alliance's standards.